Sorting system

ABSTRACT

A CLOSED AUTOMATIC SYSTEM FOR HANDLING BOBBINS FOR PREVENTING THE SYSTEM FROM BECOMING LOADED WITH BOBBINS WHICH CANNOT BE EFFECTIVELY HANDLED WITHIN THE SYSTEM. FILLED BOBBINS ARE CONVEYED, AS NEEDED, FROM A SUPPLY AREA TO A WINDING AREA WHERE THE BOBBINS ARE PREPARED FOR UNWINDING ON A SELF-TENDING WINDER. BOBBINS EJECTED FROM THE WINDER AUTOMATICALLY SORTED AND THE SUBSTANTIALLY EMPTIED BOBBINS ARE RETURNED TO THE SUPPLY AREA. PARTIALLY FILLED BOBBINS EJECTED FROM THE WINDER ARE RETURNED TO BE AGAIN PREPARED ALONG WITH OTHER FILLED BOBBINS, FOR RETURN TO THE WINDER. HOOWEVER, SOME OF THE FILLED BOBBINS MAY, FOR VARIOUS REASONS, BE IN SUCH CONDITION THAT THEY CANNOT BE PREPARED FOR UNWINDING OR HAVE NOT BEEN PROPERLY PREPARED FOR USE BY THE WINDER. IN   ORDER TO KEEP THE SYSTEM FROOM BECOMING LOADED WITH SUCH DEFECTIVE BOBBINS, THE BOBBINS ARE INSPECTED AND BOBBINS NOT PASSING INSPECTION ARE REJECTED FROM THE SYSTEM, AND ARE DEPOSITED OUTSIDE OF THE SYSTEM FOR SUBSEQUENT MANUAL INSPECTION.

C. W. BROUWER SORTING SYSTEM Sept. 20, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 15, 1969 a XNWOZ m Ms R Y mm 7% ER .R V h 0 W. MA 8 m E L R A H C United States Patent 3,606,012 SORTING SYSTEM Charles W. Brouwer, East Greenwich, R.I., assignor to Leesona Corporation, Warwick, R.I. Filed Sept. 15, 1969, Ser. No. 857,848 Int. Cl. B07c 3/14 U.S. Cl. 20973 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A closed automatic system for handling bobbins and for preventing the system from becoming loaded with bobbins which cannot be effectively handled within the system. Filled bobbins are conveyed, as needed, from a supply area to a winding area where the bobbins are prepared for unwinding on a self-tending winder. Bobbins ejected from the winder are automatically sorted and the substantially emptied bobbins are returned to the supply area. Partially filled bobbins ejected from the winder are returned to be again prepared, along with other filled bobbins, for return to the winder. However, some of the filled bobbins may, for various reasons, be in such condition that they cannot be prepared for unwinding or have not been properly prepared for use by the winder. In order to keep the system from becoming loaded with such defective bobbins, the bobbins are inspected and bobbins not passing inspection are rejected from the system, and are deposited outside of the system for subsequent manual inspection.

This invention relates to a bobbin handling system and, more particularly, to an automatic system having a recirculating portion for handling bobbins and for preventing the system from becoming loaded with bobbins which cannot be effectively handled within the system.

As used herein the term bobbin means a body of yarn or an article on which a body of yarn is or may be wound so that the yarn may readily be moved from place to place. The term filled bobbin means a bobbin whether full or partially full of yarn. The term yarn is employed in a general sense to apply to all kinds of strand material, either textile or otherwise.

Various systems prepared filled yarn supply bobbins for unwinding on a winding machine or winder and deliver the bobbins to the winder which unwinds and then ejects the bobbins to a sorter. Such ejected bobbins may still contain a substantial quantity of yarn so that it is economically desirable that they be recirculated to the winder after again being prepared for return to the winder. It can be expected that such a system will eventually become loaded with bobbins which either cannot be properly prepared for the winder.

The invention, in brief, is directed to a bobbin handling system for delivering filled supply bobbins from a spinning or storage area to a winding area, and for returning emptied bobbins from the winding area to the spinning or storage area. In the winding area the filled bobbins are prepared for receipt by a winder which normally unwinds the yarn from the bobbins and then ejects the unwound bobbins to a sorter. The substantially emptied bobbins are generally returned to the spinning or storage area. From time to time some of the bobbins ejected from the winder will not be completely unwound and still carry a sufficient amount of yarn so that it is practicable to return these bobbins to the winder for removal of the remaining yarn. Such partially empty bobbins are transferred from the sorter to again be prepared for the winder and are again passed in a normal manner to the winder. It is inevitable that defective bobbins; will be encountered which cannot be successfully prepared for unwinding. In order to prevent the system from becoming loaded with ice such defective bobbins which cannot be prepared for unwinding such defective bobbins are automatically removed from the recirculating portion of the system thus making room for the introduction of a new full bobbin. The bobbins which are removed from the sorter are preferably presented for manual inspection.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved bobbin handling system.

Another object is to provide a new and improved bobbin handling system in which partially processed bobbins are recirculated through a portion of the system and bobbins which cannot be effectively processed by the system are rejected therefrom. A related object is provision of such a system in which the rejected bobbins are presented for subsequent inspection. Another related object is provision of such a system in which the rejected bobbins are presented for manual inspection. Still another related object is provision of such a system in which filled bobbins are delivered to the recirculating portion of the system and emptied bobbins are removed therefrom.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a preferred embodiment of the system; and

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, schematic, elevational, developed view of a portion of the system with certain parts removed and other parts broken away and in section for clearer illustration.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the portion of the system to be described first is more fully described in a co-pending Leesona Corporation patent application by Charles W. Brouwer and Raymond V. Tata for a Bobbin Handling System, US. Ser. No. 736,354, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,544,018 filed June 12, 1968, and is herein incorporated by reference. In a textile mill a supply area 10 such as a spinning room contains a plurality of spinning frames (not shown) and loading stations 12 (only one shown in the drawing) which may include storage conveyor bins which deliver filled bobbins to measuring hoppers for subsequent delivery to an overhead conveyor system 16. The overhead conveyor system includes a continuous track 18 which passes through the supply area 10* and a winding area 20 of the mill. This track carries continuously moving containers 22 which receive the filled bobbins from the measuring hopper of the loading station 12. These containers 22 convey the filled bobbins to filled bobbin receiving hoppers 24 (only one being shown in the drawing) in the winding area 20, whereupon the now empty container 22 may receive emptied bobbins from empty bobbin hoppers 28 (only one being shown in the drawing), also in the winding area 20, and deliver these emptied bobbins to a receiving station hopper 30 in the supply area 10. From the filled bobbin receiving hopper 24 the filled bobbins delivered by suitable conveying means 32, such as a chute, pass through a chute, into bobbin procesing apparatus 34 (as will be more fully discussed later) which is part of a bobbin recirculating portion of the system and includes bobbin preparing apparatus 36 (indicated generally by broken lines) and a winder 38, such as a No. 644 Uniconer automatic winding machine, manufactured by Leesona Corporation, Warwick, RI. The bobbin preparing apparatus 36 prepares the filled bobbins as yarn supply bobbins to be unwound by the winder 38 and the prepared bobbins are transferred by conveying means 40 to the winder, and mOre particularly to winding stations (not shown) of the winder. At the winding stations the filled bobbins are unwound and then ejected by an empty bobbin conveyor of the winder and, as in the previously noted patent application Ser. No. 736,354, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,479 are conveyed directly to the empty bobbin hopper 28 for return by the overhead conveyor system 16 to the receiving station hopper 30 in the supply area 10. The overhead conveyor containers 22 and the delivering hoppers 12 and 28- are opened and closed by automatically operating mechanism during transfer of filled and emptied bobbins.

The previously mentioned bobbin preparing apparatus 36 and the conveying means 40 for distributing the prepared bobbins from the preparing apparatus to the winder 38 and more particularly the winding stations of the winder are more fully discussed in another co-pending Leesona Corporation patent application by Charles W. Brouwer and Raymond V. Tata for a Bobbin Handling Installation, U.S. Ser. No. 666,625, filed Sept. 11, 1967, now U.S. Pat. 3,474,975, dated Oct. 28, 1969, and hereby incorporated by reference. The bobbin preparing apparatus 36 includes orienting apparatus 42 which receives randomly jumbled bobbins via the conveying means 32 from the filled bobbin receiving hopper 24, and orients, thereafter delivering the bobbins through suitable conveying means 44 to bobbin readying apparatus 46, to be more fully described later, which is also part of the preparing apparatus. From the readying apparatus 46 the bobbins are delivered by the conveying means 40 and distributed to its winding stations. Upon receiving the filled bobbins the previously noted winder 38 automatically dons, threads unwinds, doffs and then ejects the bobbins.

A suitable readying apparatus 46, subject to certain modifications as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, is fully described in a co-pending Lessona Corporation patent application by William E. Stoppard, Thomas E. Pitts, and John Nelson for Bobbin Handling, U.S. Ser. No. 667,500, filed Sept. 13, 1967, now U.S. Pat. 3,544,018, dated Dec. 12, 1970, and is hereby incorporated by reference. FIG. 2 shows the readier 46 including a rotatable bobbin carrier 48 having a carrier plate 49 fixed to a column 50 journalled, as at 52, on a base plate 54. Suitable indexing apparatus (not shown) is provided for moving the carrier 48 step by step from station to station. The stations are fixedly located relative to the base plate 54. There are six such stations as including, in order: a receiving station No. 1 (reference symbol N0. 1, and so forth), a reserve station No. 2, a first processing station No. 3, a second processing station No. 4, and inspection station No. 5, and a discharge station No. 6. The carrier 48 carries six equally circumferentially spaced vertical chutes 56 for receiving bobbins 57. The chutes 56 are all equidistant from the column 50. Ports 58 in the carrier plate 49 communicate with each of the chutes 56. Below the ports 58, horizontally swinging gates 60 are mounted on the carrier plate 49 by vertical pivot pins 62. Suitable mechanism (not shown) is provided at certain of the stations for opening the gates when it is desired to discharge a bobbin 57 from the carrier 48. Through the conveying means 44, such as the chute from the orienting apparatus 42, a filled bobbin 57 is delivered, responsive to a signal from control mechanism of the readying apparatus, into the carrier chute 56 and onto the closed gate 60 at the receiving station No. 1. When the carrier 48 is next indexed, this bobbin is transferred to the reserve station No. 2 and, as disclosed in the reference application, the bobbin 57 is simply held for transfer to the first processing station N0. 3 upon the next indexing of the carrier. The present function of station No. 2 will be discussed later. At station N0. 3 a tailing end 64, if any, from which winding of a body of yarn 66 on a hollow bobbin core 68 was started, is removed. The bobbin 57 is rotated and an unwinding end 70 of the body of yarn 66 is found by a current of air and transferred thereby through a slot 72 in the chute and a slot 74 in a conduit 76, to a bunch maker 78, at the processing station No. 4, in which the unwinding end 70 is formed into a bunch 79 (note station No. Upon the next indexing of the carrier 48' the bobbin 57 is moved to station No. 4 and an elevating member 80 is moved upwardly into the hollow bobbin core 68 and elevates the bobbin to lift the top of the bobbin core into a mouth 81 of the bunch maker 78. The bunch 79 is now deposited into the interior of the bobbin core 68 whereupon the elevating member 80 is lowered and removed from the core, which is again rested on its gate 60. The bobbin is next moved to the inspection station No. 5 at which a photo-electric system including a photo-electric cell unit 82 is fixed relative to the base plate 54 and directly above the center of hollow bobbin core 68. A reflector 84 is directly below the bobbin core 68 and is mounted for horizontal swinging movement on the base plate 54 by means of a vertical pivot pin 86. Upon engagement of an edge of the gate 60 with an upstanding tab 88 on the reflector 8-4 the reflector is swung from below the bobbin when the gate is opened. If a ray of light projected from the photo-cell unit 82 is reflected from the reflector 84 back to the unit 82, indicating that a bunch, as 79, has not been deposited in the bobbin core 68, an electric circuit of the control system is actuated to cause the gate 60 to open whereupon both the gate and the reflector 84 swing from under the bobbin and the bobbin drops into conveying means 90 here in the form of a chute. If the bunch 79 is properly deposited in the bobbin core the circuit is not actuated and the gate 60 remains closed and, upon the next indexing of the carrier, the bobbin 57 is moved to the discharge station No. 6 at which the gate 60 is automatically opened to discharge the bobbin into a chute portion of the conveying means 40 from the readying apparatus to the winder. This concludes the presently pertinent portion of the readier which is more fully described in the reference patent application S.N. 667,500, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,544,018 to which the following additions have been made:

The conveying means (chute) 90 from the inspection station No. 5 delivers a bobbin, which has failed to pass inspection, into an inspection bin 92 for subsequent inspection, preferably manual inspection, and the bobbin is thus rejected from the recirculating portion of the system. Also, the reserve station No. 2 is provided with inspection means as described with reference to station No. 5, above, and including a photo-cell unit '82 directly above the bobbin 57 and a swingably mounted reflector 84' directly below the bobbin. If the photo-cell unit detects an obstruction, such as cloth or a bunch 79 previously deposited in a bobbin which is being recirculated, the gate 60 and the reflector are swung out of the way and the bobbin is deposited by conveyor means 94, such as a chute, into the bin 92. Such an obstruction in a bobbin core is objectionable in part because of the subsequent processing at stations No. 3 and No. 4. Furthermore, even though a bunch may not be properly deposited in an obstructed core, the inspection station No. 5 might still pass the defective bobbin to the discharge station No. 6.

Prior to the inspection at station No. 2, an air jet is projected upwardly through the bobbin core 68 to attempt to eject any such foreign matter from the core. This jet is provided through a nozzle 96 opening through the reflector 84' and connected to a suitable source of compressed air by means of a flexible tube 98 so that the nozzle may swing with the gate 60 and the reflector 84' from under the bobbin 57. Operation of the jet is controlled in typical manner by the control system of the readying apparatus.

Referring again to FIG. 1, a sorter 100 is provided. This sorter may be of any type known in the art for sorting substantially emptied bobbins from bobbins still containing a substantial amount of yarn. Sorters of this general type are shown in U.S. Pats. Nos. 2,615,556; 2,095,530 and 2,459,309. The bobbins ejected from the winder 3-8 are transferred into the sorter 100 by conveying means 102 which may be of any suitable type such as a chute, belt conveyor or elevator depending on the particular circumstances. The emptied ones of the ejected bobbins are then transferred by suitable conveying means 104 to the empty bobbin hopper 28 for deposit in an empty container 22 of the overhead conveying system 16 and are returned to receiving station hopper 30 in the supply area. From the sorter 100 the filled bobbins are returned by any suitable conveying means 106 back to the proc essing apparatus 36 and, more particularly, to the orienting apparatus 42, and are thus recirculated through the orienting apparatus, the readier 46 and, if they pass inspection to the winder 38 and the sorter 100. As previously noted, any bobbins which fail to pass inspection are rejected from the recirculating portion of the system and are deposited in the inspection bin 92.

While this invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment in a particular environment, various changes may be apparent to one skilled in the art and the invention is therefore not to be limited to such embodiment or environment except as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic bobbin handling system which recirculates at least some of the bobbins, comprising, processing means for normally unwinding filled bobbins and then ejecting the bobbins, sorting means for receiving the ejected bobbins and sorting substantially emptied ones of the ejected bobbins from ones of the ejected bobbins sufficiently filled to be recirculated to the processing means, means for inspecting the filled bobbins from the sorting means to determine if the bobbins are in condition for processing by the processing means, and conveying means for nonmally recirculating to the processing means the filled bobbins from the sorting means which have been found by the inspecting means to be in condition for processing by the processing means and for diverting from the processing means the bobbins from the sorting means which have been found by the inspecting means not to be in condition for processing by the processing means.

2. A system as set forth in claim 1 including means for returning for rewinding the bobbins found by the sorting means to be substantially emptied, and means for delivering other filled bobbins for processing by the processing means and inspection by the inspecting means.

3. A system as set forth in claim 1 in which said conveying means presents for subsequent inspection the bobbins diverted from the processing means.

4. A system as set forth in claim 1 in which said conveying means rejects from the system the bobbins diverted from the processing means.

5. A system as set forth in claim 4 in which said conveying means presents the last said bobbins for manual inspection.

6. A system as set forth in claim 1 in which the processing means includes means for unwinding the filled bobbins and means for preparing the filled bobbins for use by the unwinding means.

7. A system as set forth in claim 6 in which the inspecting means inspects the bobbins to determine whether or not the bobbins are in condition for receipt by the preparing means.

8. A system as set forth in claim 6 in which the inspecting means inspects the bobbins to determine whether or not the bobbins are in condition for receipt by the unwinding means.

9. A system as set forth in claim 6 in which the inspecting means inspects the bobbins to determine whether or not the bobbins are in condition for receipt by the preparing means and whether or not the bobbins from the preparing means are in condition for receipt by the unwinding means.

10. A system as set forth in claim 9 in which said conveying means rejects from the system the bobbins diverted from the processing means and presents the last said bobbins for manual inspection, means for returning for rewinding the bobbins found by the sorting means to be substantially emptied, and means for delivering other filled bobbins for processing by the processing means and inspection by the inspecting means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,049,231 8/1962 Crandall et al. 20974 3,078,994 2/1963 Sherer 209-74X 3,195,298 7/1965 Furst 2099OX 3,207,307 9/1965 Means 209-74 3,387,703 6/1968 Foster 209-73 ALLEN N. KNOWLES, Primary Examiner US Cl. X.R. 20975, 82 

